Monday, January 7, 2013

Good Monday morning! Today feels like the beginning of the New Year to me. Our grandkids return to school today after a three week holiday break. My husband goes back to work today after a week staycation. I will keep a low key week here at home, while Dusty gets to know us, and we get to know him.

Saturday morning, we loaded up the Yukon and headed up to Big Bear. It was beautiful up there, as it always is. I didn't take many photos this time. When we arrived, there had been a fairly recent snowfall, and the snowplow had created quite a wall of snow that was blocking the driveway. Greg and Drew got busy with snow shovels and metal spade and removed the berm, and shoveled out the drive enough so that we could pull the car in. I have 4 wheel drive, so getting in and out of the snow is not a problem.

Looks a little like Dad is doing more directing than shoveling from this photo!! But, alas, he was shoveling too.

The above picture was taken from the inside of the warm cabin, through the window. We didn't do too much this weekend. A lot of this.

We mostly enjoyed sitting by a roaring fire and relaxing. Drew is always good for some entertainment. He is a gifted musician, and we are lucky enough to get to be his first audience while he works on his new music.
My Mom's place is a two story, with the kitchen and living areas of the cabin upstairs, and the sleeping areas downstairs. The downstairs stays a good 20 degrees colder than the upstairs, and getting ready for bed is always quite comical! There never seem to be enough hats, socks and blankets to go around! There is one space heater, and guess who got it? Yep me! I sent Diana to bed with a hot water bottle, and Drew layered up on clothing. Eri was the lucky one, and she slept upstairs on the futon, by the fire.
Morning comes with a race up to the kitchen, where hot coffee awaits, and a fire will soon be built to warm our frosty toes.
We woke up Sunday morning to SNOW!!!! It had begun at about 3:00 a.m. and everything was so beautiful outside!!!

When I woke up, Greg had already slipped out with both of the doggins' to walk them. Erika and I were upstairs on our second cup of coffee, watching the snow fall, and listening to the wind howl and getting worried about where Greg was.

Eventually, he returned, and we watched the snow fall from inside. Greg made us egg bagel sandwiches for breakfast, and we split the apple dumplings that we bought at Blanca's the day before.

I spent a good deal of my time up there, making a cozy to go over the hot water bottle. I have seen some of these on a few of my favorite British friends' blogs. I love them! I have been wanting to make one, so I set to work making one with the yarn I had on hand.

I slipped in onto the bottle and filled it up with piping hot water, and sent it to bed with Diana to keep her warm. I just love the way it turned out, and plan on using it often!
I left the bottom unsewn, and I placed three buttons along the edge for easy removal of the bottle.

Once the filled water bottle is placed inside, you button'er up, and there you have it. A nice soft cozy for your hot water bottle! The snow stopped for a while, and we got the sheets all washed up and prepared for heading home.
My son took this of Greg and I on the back deck. We were trying to get both of the dogs in the photo with us. Ha!

I took one of Drew and his sweet Diana.

I think we need to get Drew some snow shoes. He had cold feet all weekend!! I took this one of Diana alone. I love the way she wears her ear warmer that I made for her.

She wears it higher on her head, in a sort of Bohemian style. Love it!!
Greg and Dusty....doing a little dance.

We left to go down the hill at about 2:00, and it had just begun to snow again. The ride home, was long and slow!! The visibility was awful, and there were many cars spinning out on the ice, and many on the side of the road putting on chains. When we reached the highway 18 split to Arrowhead, there were flairs and CHP was directing traffic away from Highway 330. We heard several sirens and saw ambulances, and knew that there had to have been a bad wreck. We had to take a longer route, down the mountain through highway 18, where traffic crawled along cautiously in the snow and bad weather. It took us three hours to get home, and our usual drive is just one hour 10 minutes. I didn't have my camera within my reach, as we were packed in with 5 adults and two dogs! I took many photos on the way home with my iphone and Greg's camera. I may post some of those later. Shortly after getting home, Noah arrived with is Dad. We were eager to introduce him to Dusty. And as we had suspected, they became fast friends too.

We have really only had Dusty now for about 3 days, but I feel certain he will be a good fit into our family. Last night Drew's buddy, and family friend Brian, came by. And later Drew and Diana came to watch a game, and later Downton Abbey!! Geeps built us a roaring fire! Winter has arrived!!

One thing we have noticed from Dusty, is that he was been fed from the table, and wants a bit of a taste whenever someone is eating. However, he does not beg, or bark, or whine. He just plants himself in front of you with those beautiful chocolate brown pleading eyes. Sorry Dust, but we don't feed our dogs from our plates. He will have to get used to that!

Brian, you won't like this picture of you, but I loved the animated looks on everyone else's faces in this photo. The boys were getting all excited over the Laker game, and Diana and I were patiently waiting for Downton Abbey to start!!
Did you watch it? It was really good! I loved Shirley MacLaine!!! I do have to rewatch it though, because I may have dozed from time to time towards the end. It was a two hour premiere, and I was getting tired. But I loved it. I love each of the richly woven characters in this beautifully done series, and can't wait for next Sunday to see episode two!
That's it from here. See you soon. And Be Sweet, as Nana would say!!xo Kris

I was just trying to wait patiently for this post. I saw that it looked like you got some snow up there and I was worried about you. Not like a stalker, more like a mother hen. Miss you girl. I need some orange tree advice. Can you come over today?

You know I was in a big hog heaven last night with D.A. Love, love, love each moment. Did you know there are only 6 episodes or something like that. A real pisser if you ask me. Any who, send some of that snow this way. We are in real trouble here after the drought this summer and now now snow. Prediction is we are going to start to loss the trees. Glad you had a new warm B.B. weekend.

Thanks for sharing your fun weekend with us! You're so lucky to have a place like that where you can all go for some family time. Our sons just invited us over this afternoon for mac and cheese dinner with them all. We haven't seen them since xmas, since they've had 6 of them with the flu over there. Miss them!

We watched season 1 and 2 of DA all day to prep for 3. It did not disappoint!

Hi Kris, Girl you look so darn young!!!!! I loved seeing all the family at the cabin; glad you didn't get caught in any wrecks. We watched football yesterday and stayed inside-except for a walk. It is in the 40's and very nice out. Today I walked Hunter and this afternoon went to the gym and did 2 miles on the treadmill. Tomorrow I start a new class there-it is going to be tough I know but I need to shed some fluff.Have a great evening.Noreen

Looks like a great weekend! I'm sorry to read about Greg's cousin. Dusty will be a wonderful addition to your family. When our son got sick, we brought his dog, Cleo, here to live with us. He is SO lovable and gets along well with Tucker and the cat. I'm so grateful we still have a little piece of Jason living here with us. I know the dogs appreciate having a loving home. Bless you hearts for taking Dusty in!

That picture of you and Greg is so cute. You look like you are 25 years old! :) You always look so good!! Love all the pictures. One day I will visit Big Bear. It's always so beautiful from your photos. The snow looks like fun, but sounds like some people had trouble driving in it. I'm glad you made it home safe and sound. Love Noah and Dusty together too!xo

Sounds like a great time at Big Bear and the new member of your family is quite handsome. :-) YES! I watched it last night, love, love, love it! Did you notice the difference in how they shot the scenes? Maybe it was just me, they kept moving from one person to another instead of the long lingering scenes from the earlier seasons. I like Shirley McLain in it too, But I think the Dowager is my favorite character, she is a hoot! Take care Kris, Heather

Hi Kris, Great hearing about your fun and wintery weekend. It did look beautiful and sounded COLD! The water bottle cover is so pretty, you did a great job. Did you have a pattern? Love the flowers. So happy Dusty is working out, labs are all beggars with any food, even if they just ate. Downton Abbey was great wasn't it. We planned our whole evening around watching it!!!Take care, xoRobin❤

It's crazy how much the weather chances in your neck of the woods! Big Bear looks absolutely gorgeous! Congrats on your new addition. I love the photo of Dusty and Noah together :) He looks like an awesome dog!

Love the hot water bottle cover. You are right, it turned out very well. We have had snow since right around Christmas, the weatherman says it will be a bit warmer so we can expect it to start melting and then some rain later in the week, so flooding can be expected. I'm already tired of winter. Anyone who loves snow can have my portion of it. (((HUGS))) Susanne :)

Well, now it is my turn to say that I am so glad you got home safely after a difficult drive, Kris!!! I really enjoyed your recount of your snowy weekend. The hot water bottle cozy is both pretty and practical! I watched Downton, too and especially enjoyed Shirley's character :) I will try to be sweet as you and Nana instructed. xx from Gracie

What a fabulous cabin and beautiful family photos. We have had no snow in Northern Ireland this year and a very mild winter. Hopefully this means we will have a tropical summer too - haha, probably wishful thinking. xx

What a splendid time you all had...and that hot water bottle cover is so cute!!! You will have to sell those at your next sale!!!!Glad you all got home safely...Especially to see Downton Abbey...I was shocked to discover that Bates actually DID kill his wife!!!!Waiting for the next instalment!!

what fun and look at all the snow... its cold enough here to snow too. burrrrr.... love the hot water bottle cover...glad you are having fun up there. I hear its been windy our neighbor called us to let us know the telephone wires fell down by our cabin. tootles~~ Debb

That cabin looks so wonderfully cozy! Once when dug and I were on a backpacking trip in the Rockies, he made me a hot water baby bottle (that is what we called it) to go to sleep...it was in the twenties and we were in a tent wearing all of the clothes that we had!Your dog is SO beautiful, too! xo, Cheryl